In order to prepare for the T20I and ODI series against New Zealand, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named full-strength squads, which included the trio of skipper Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
SQUADS:
T20I:
- Babar Azam (captain)
- Shadab Khan (vice-captain)
- Faheem Ashraf
- Fakhar Zaman
- Haris Rauf
- Iftikhar Ahmed
- Ihsanullah
- Imad Wasim
- Mohammad Haris
- Mohammad Nawaz
- Mohammad Rizwan
- Naseem Shah
- Saim Ayub
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Shan Masood
- Zaman Khan
ODI:
- Babar Azam (captain)
- Shadab Khan (vice-captain)
- Abdullah Shafique
- Fakhar Zaman
- Haris Rauf
- Haris Sohail
- Ihsanullah
- Imam-ul-Haq
- Mohammad Nawaz
- Mohammad Rizwan
- Mohammad Wasim Jnr
- Naseem Shah
- Salman Ali Agha
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Shan Masood
- Usama Mir
Following the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Shaheen missed five Test matches and three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against England and New Zealand while he recovered from a knee injury he had acquired in the first Test match against Sri Lanka in Galle in July. The ACC Asia Cup in the UAE, the second Test against Sri Lanka, the ODI series against the Netherlands, and the seven-match T20I series in Pakistan were all missed as a result.
The 22-year-old, who has claimed 99 Test, 62 ODI, and 58 T20I wickets, made a stunning comeback in the HBL Pakistan Super League 8 by motivating Lahore Qalandars to become the first team to successfully defend the championship. Shaheen not only performed admirably with the ball and bat (scoring 133 runs at a strike rate of 168.35 and grabbing 19 wickets at an economy rate of 9.13), but he also displayed exceptional fielding. He was appropriately named the Team of HBL PSL 8’s captain.
Together with Shaheen, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Rizwan are all returning to both squads. For the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan last month in Sharjah, all of these players had taken a break.
This means Babar Azam will resume his normal services as captain in the ODI and T20I series against New Zealand, while Shadab will return to his original position as vice-captain.
Following impressive performances in Sharjah, three young guns—Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, and Zaman Khan—have been kept in the T20I squad. Ihsanullah has also been added to the ODI squad for the first time in his career.
The team will get together in Lahore on April 6 and the training camp will start on April 7.
Revised Pakistan v New Zealand schedule:
14 Apr – 1st T20I, Lahore
15 Apr – 2nd T20I, Lahore
17 Apr – 3rd T20I, Lahore
20 Apr – 4th T20I, Rawalpindi
24 Apr – 5th T20I, Rawalpindi
26 Apr – 1st ODI, Rawalpindi
30 Apr – 2nd ODI, Rawalpindi
3 May – 3rd ODI, Karachi
5 May – 4th ODI, Karachi
7 May – 5th ODI, Karachi
